Mt. Haku-san late September

For some reason I have had my radar on hiking mt Haku san for a while, since I thought mt Fuji is too crowded and become more of a tourist magnet.

Going to Japan during end of September to early October.

As far as I can see public transport is very infrequent, so my bet is renting a car, driving to the trailhead and hiking up from there.

Not sure what to expect from weather though due to altitude.

There is supposed to be a hut near the summit. Is it nessicary to make reservation if hiking in late September? Or could I hope for late reservation in case the weather makes hiking harder than expected?

What to expect from the typhoon season?

If you haven't read this, please do so in advance.
https://hakusan-guide.or.jp/
https://www.g-hakusan.gr.jp/climbing/
https://www.pref.ishikawa.lg.jp/hakusan/tozaninf/attention.html
https://yamap.com/mountains/99
https://www.g-hakusan.gr.jp/blog/683/
By the way, last year, the first snow fell on October 8th.
https://weathernews.jp/s/topics/202310/080105/

I am truly greatful for the information you provided. Though my reading skills in Japanese is limited I will try to make best use of it. Very interesting blog posts as well.


Should I be vary about typhoons? I guess they hit as hard in the mountains as in the "steady ground" below. Not sure how tough the typhoon season is expected this year.

I think for any kind of outdoor activity you should be flexible to adapt to weather or cancel due to weather.
What I do is I plan two different trips. Eg in September I have a week of vacation and plan to go to Echigo Tsumari art festival by bike. However if weather is very bad for most of the time I will cancel all my reservations and activate plan B. I haven’t made plan B yet, but probably looking into something like Hachimantai or Akita or maybe even Hokkaido instead. ie my backup plan is in a place quite far from the plan A place so that if weather in region A is really bad, it’s likely that region B has a different weather.
You can book hotels in Japan that are cancellable until a few days before arrival. So that generally works for me. I don’t mind one day of rain in between , but a week of cycling in the rain wouldn’t be that nice.

Good input from LikeBike on trip planning. Whether the upcoming typhoon season will be an unusually bad one or not (it seems to have gotten off to a roaring start) is pretty much irrelevant for you. Obviously you aren’t going to want to do this hike in foul weather, so all that really matters is the immediate near-term forecast for the period you will be hiking. If it’s possible for you to arrange your itinerary so you have more than one possible set of dates to hike, you stand to have a better chance of completing it.

I am surprised at how few of the many people who post itineraries and day plans ever even mention weather, when it can be such a huge factor in how enjoyable a given day’s activities will be. I get the sense that travelers who have elaborate plans designed to get them to half a dozen (or more) of the most popular sites in Kyoto (essentially all of them outdoors) will just soldier on in the rain no matter what. What I see more often is people who have decided not to come to Japan at all during the so-called Rainy Season (tsuyu). Some of them seem to think that it rains heavily and constantly during tsuyu, or if they avoid tsuyu (or typhoon season, or whatever) they aren’t going to have to contend with rain or something. When I plan a trip, I always include rainy-day options for each day on my itinerary, and I also consider the flexibility value of various rail passes in terms of supporting such contingencies. I might pay a little more for a pass than I would pay for point-to-point tickets if the weather were to be perfect, but the possibility of being able to take a train to a location where it isn’t raining, or to enjoy a pleasant limited express train ride in the rain without having to get my feet wet, can be worth a few thousand yen (of course, not tens of thousands, but…). Of course, you can engage in sightseeing in the rain with an umbrella, and in fact Japanese gardens are often better in the rain, but it’s always good to have alternatives in your back pocket, especially when rain turns out to be heavy or unusually frequent.

Regarding cancellable hotel reservations, I am noticing that many hotels in Japan these days are starting to extend the period during which you can cancel at no charge. I don’t like to commit myself to any hotels with cancellation windows longer than a couple of days or so, so these days it is one of the first things I check before I get serious in picking a given hotel. There are some hotels (looking at you, Tobu Levant) and one specific chain (looking at you, Royal Park THE) that I used to use that I don’t even bother to check prices on anymore because they have seriously extended their cancellation windows. Fortunately, a large number of hotels still have one- or two-day (or at most three-day) windows. I rarely cancel hotels on short notice, but like to know that if I end up wanting to I will be able to.

I’m afraid that it is probably true that the huge influx of foreign tourists in recent years has caused a lot of hotels to start imposing less-flexible cancellation policies. I never used to see so many long windows. I’m not happy with this trend, but fortunately there are still a lot of hotels that have a one- or two-day window, and also a lot of hotels that don’t require a credit card number to be provided in advance (I’m not sure how long that policy will last…). I almost always pay by credit card but prefer not to be constantly giving the number out online.

Sorry, I have steered the thread off topic (as usual). But I do think that the input on having alternative plans, possibly with an alternative set of hotel reservations, is good. I do worry that if too many people do this sort of thing (strategic double booking of hotels) it will make the situation worse, but I think that many hotels are still going to keep their windows short, because they know that many people won’t even consider using them if they have extreme policies. Of course, places like ryokans that serve specialized food need to know well in advance how many guests will be staying, but a 14-day window at Kyoto Brighton Hotel??? Give me a break…

On the day of a typhoon, you should stop climbing.
In the weather forecast, the forecast for the next week is announced about a week before.
Even if the forecast is wrong, safety is more important.
The other day, I answered a question from a person who was planning to go on a trip to Prague at the end of the year on a SNS for a different trip.
Since the price is high at the end of the year, I suggested that I should book a hotel for the time being and put him on the waiting list for a cheaper hotel.
(The hotel he booked was supposed to be able to cancel if he deposited money at least two days before him stay. If he deposited money earlier, he could stay at the hotel for a cheaper price.)
If the weather is not certain, it is easier to change to another plan if you choose a hotel where you can cancel right before your stay.

I think this site is also useful for Hakusan.
https://hikinginjapan.com/2008/06/03/hakusan/

Wow that was a lot of effort put in your replies, thank you so much.

When I started going to Japan a few years ago the inflow of tourists was not as much as these days. It was very easy planning last minute changes and finding hotels in the last minute, even domestic flights. The JR pass also helped a lot.

Now since air fares have increased and rail pass as well I find it harder.

But as you say, safety is priority and I always check weather and other conditions when hiking.

I've never stayed at APA Hotel, but I heard that the cancellation fee is free until the day before. https://www.apahotel.com/articles/cancel/
I'm not sure about the recent situation, but I remember that when I went to Kyoto a long time ago, I asked the tourist information center to look for a business hotel where I could stay on the day and make a reservation.
In the case of the tourist information center, I don't think there is a discount like on the OTA site, but there is a possibility that they can make a reservation for the accommodation even at the last minute.
If it seems that it will be changed at the last minute, it may be a good idea to consult.
There is also a tourist information center where you can inquire by e-mail. https://tic.jnto.go.jp/eng/index.php